Mammogram skin abrasion question

I had a mammogram yesterday at a major hospital--very up to date, etc.
The tech was thorough and the atmosphere was conducive to relaxation etc.
This time though, I discovered that my breasts had a burning sensation underneath when I removed my bra. When I checked I had lines about 4 inches under both, fire red, and really sore! I guess the bra held up the breasts and only occasionally touched the area all day, but when I took it off, the burning was intense. The skin looks like it's pulled almost apart--like I've been 'cut' with a knife, my husband said. I put antibiotic creme on last night and today. I even put an icebag against the area. I also took a picture so if I needed to show it to them I could. I wrote them an email to see if this has happened before. I feel it's due to very hard pulling of the skin as one is told to lean into the machine and pulling both up and under the breasts. Also, the machine was cleaned with a solution just before the mammogram so I wonder if in stretching my skin, and the solution on it, may both have contributed to it. Has anyone had this happen on this board. Any suggestions as to what might be the cause? Thanks.
yanskgirl

Ouch! You poor thing. Do you normally have very sensitive skin, or any allergies you know of? Have you had problems under your breasts before? I know sometimes women with large breasts have trouble with infections in the fold area due to moisture.

Those machines have hurt me under my breasts because the tech. does really stretch me and those plates are really hard...they push you into them hard too, and I've thought I'd be bruised several times. I've never actually been cut though. If you don't feel better soon, I'd check with your doctor, or call the place where you had the mammo...maybe they have some suggestions.

It's normal to have some red marks for a day or two, but I've never had an actual tear in the skin. I'd check with your doctor if it doesn't clear up and maybe next time go to a different facility that just specializes in radiology. But a lot of times it depends on the tech doing it. A good facility won't do something that you will be hurting from for something as simple as a mammogram.

Thanks for the replies. The facility is a 'state of the art' facility in a major medical teaching hospital. The lines are still quite sore and red. I've never had any skin rashes under my breast before. My mother used to since she was very large breasted. I'm a C size.
I sent an email to the patient relations dept of the hospital--and told them to forward it to the proper person in the mammogram area. I learned from a friend that her daughter had a similar experience, only it was only on one breast and although it hurt, it wasn't as bad as mine. I took pictures and plan to have them with me next time to show them what had happened the last visit.
yanksgirl

Hope you get a satisfactory answer to your question re the mammogram. I've never heard of actually having your skin split from the compression! That's awful! The last mammo I had was for diagnostic reasons, and they must have taken six or more films of the one breast. The tech kept apologizing because they had to compress so hard. I was told everyone has a thick area under the breast and they have to get through it to get a good picture. With all the extra pictures and compression, I didn't have a mark.
I would ask what they use to disinfect the shelf. If your skin was sensitive to it, it might have weakened the area that split. Good luck!